I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to dental instruments and, more particularly, to a working well for use during root canal therapy.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In root canal therapy, the nerve canals of the tooth are removed, sterilized and subsequently filled with inert sealer in order to prevent the future infection of the tooth nerve root. In order to accomplish this, it is essential that the entire root canal, including the root tip, be cleaned and filled to eliminate all organic matter contained within the root canal.
The usual procedure in root canal therapy is to open the tooth into the pulp chamber and then work down to the root end. In order to gain access to the pulp chamber, a hole is drilled through the tooth and subsequently widened by a peeso reamer of Gates Glider. When the tooth hole to the pulp chamber is sufficiently wide, reamers are used to clean out the tooth root.
When the tooth root canal debris is removed, it is important throughout the entire root canal operation that the various implements used to clean out the root do not penetrate beyond the end of the root and irritate the periodontal tissues. The length of the root is initially ascertained by the use of dental x-rays. Once the length of the root is determined, a rubber stopper is placed over each reamer so that the distance between the tip of the reamer and the stopper equals the distance between the top of the tooth and the bottom of the root. Since a plurality of reamers and other implements are used throughout the root canal operation, it has been the previous practice to individually measure and position the stoppers on the various implements used during the root canal therapy. The individual measurement and placement of the stoppers on the reamers is very time consuming and, at times, somewhat inaccurate.